Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do work very closely with LHOs. ECE and the regional people with the LHOs are working closely together. We've agreed that we're going to set up focus groups, so it will involve tenants throughout the Northwest Territories, in order to make sure that we're hearing from tenants, what the problems are and how we can address them. So, yes, Mr. Speaker, we're doing that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We're in a process of constantly reviewing our programs. I'm not confident that I'm going to be able to find any extra money to put into this program this year, given the fact that we only have a limited budget and we know that we're going to spend more than twice what's in the budget already. The strain is already pretty severe on the department to try and just cover the actual cost because of the fuel price increases. But I will certainly do as the Member directs and discuss whether or not there are any changes that we could make, and I'll be prepared to come and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that we can point with pride to our seniors' programs here in the Northwest Territories. I think the programs that we offer seniors right now are if not the best in North America, they're at least the best in Canada. So we already have a very good program. I think it's important to remember that we call this program a subsidy. No matter what the cost of oil or propane or wood goes to, we provide the same amount to seniors each year. So we're prepared to help seniors, to assist them to stay in their own homes. We're hoping that the communities and families...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning. Mr. Speaker, later today, I will table the Workers’ Compensation Board of the Northwest Territories' and Nunavut’s 2006 summer issue of the magazine Reflections. This publication is intended to provide both employers and workers with an overview and deeper understanding of the various activities the WCB has undertaken in the last year.

The cover story of this magazine features the inspirational journey of Les Rohac, a man who came from Czechoslovakia to Canada seeking a better life, but who instead found himself faced with the challenge of overcoming a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've heard the honourable Member from the other side and we'll look at what our options are. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this government respects and honours the seniors in the Northwest Territories. We’re probably the only government in Canada that provides this kind of fuel subsidy to our residents, but we don’t have money right now to make this a universal program and there are a lot of seniors who can afford to pay for their own fuel.

There are seniors who have had government jobs and have pensions. So not everybody is going to be treated exactly the same right now. The program is set up that we have to live within the money that was budgeted. It was approved by Members...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've just been assured by the Minister of Justice that he will ensure that we have the regulation in time for students to get consideration this semester.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would agree with the Member that we need to do all that we can to encourage our students to pursue post-secondary. I was having trouble understanding why we had the arbitrary time limit in there when I first had it brought to my attention by Members and constituents in this House. So in August I asked the department to contact Justice about getting the regulation changed. As I understand it, it is in the process right now of being translated in Justice, so it's very close to finally being changed; probably within the next week or two.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I've said before, we're constantly prepared to review our programs. This was not put together because anybody said it wasn't working before. The reason for it was that this government has $125 million in direct subsidies to the residents of the Northwest Territories being delivered by a number of different departments. As part of the process to try and realign how our subsidy programs are offered to the public, we agreed, early on, that we would try and bring the programs together, and this is the first step and the first time that we've tried to do this. What...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said in the House yesterday, we have a very senior committee set up to take a look at this and it includes Mr. Polakoff who's the president of the Housing Corporation, and the deputy minister of ECE. They meet on a regular basis. We have brought together regional people from both the housing authorities, the Housing Corporation and ECE. When we find areas where there are problems, for instance on a recent tour through Mr. Pokiak's riding some problems came to light in Ulukhaktok. We sent a team in from both agencies to deal with the issues and try and resolve...